Executive Team

Marc A. Brinkmeyer: Owner

Marc began his career as an accountant with Arthur Anderson in Portland, OR. He worked with medium sized and large companies, including several in the forest products industry. From 1973 to 1981, Marc was the Chief Financial Officer for Brand-S, who had processing facilities in Oregon, Idaho and Montana. In 1981, Brinkmeyer purchased the Laclede sawmill from Brand-S and formed Riley Creek Lumber Co. In 2003, Riley Creek purchased two additional mills from LP located in Moyie Springs and Chilco Idaho. Marc plays an active role in guiding the strategic direction of IFG and is heavily involved in the promotion and development of the Idaho forest products industry.

Bryan Riga: Vice President of Technologies

Bryan started at IFG in 2000, working at both Laclede and Chilco sawmills before attending the University of Idaho, where he earned Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Engineering. In his nine years at the sawmills, Bryan was a certified machine operator and part of the engineering project team that built the Chilco sawmill after the purchase from Louisiana Pacific. He learned to work as part of a team and experienced first-hand what it takes to improve productivity. After college, Bryan moved to Silicon valley and worked for several startups in the technology industry. While in Silicon Valley he served as a consultant to several fortune 500 companies in the manufacturing sector. He returned to IFG in 2019 and led the Strategy and Innovation team until his promotion to Vice President of Technologies in May 2022.

Erol Deren: VP Sales and Marketing

Erol began his career with Georgia Pacific in 1987 where he held various positions of increasing responsibility in sales, procurement, and management. His last position was Director of Commodity Lumber. He joined Riley Creek in 2005 as president of the distribution company. In 2007 Erol was named the VP of Sales & Marketing of Riley Creek Lumber and in December of 2009 the VP of Sales and Marketing for Idaho Forest Group. Erol has a BS in business administration and a Minor in economics from Humboldt State University.

Tom Schultz: VP Resource and Government Affairs

Tom Schultz joined Idaho Forest Group in January 2018. Prior to working for Idaho Forest Group, he served as the director of the Idaho Department of Lands for six years. As secretary to the State Board of Land Commissioners (Land Board), he oversaw the management of 2.4 million surface acres of endowment lands and 3.3 million acres of endowment minerals in the State of Idaho. Prior to joining the Idaho Department of Lands, Tom worked for the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) for 14 years. He served as the administrator of the DNRC Trust Lands Division, and served as the administrator for the DNRC Water Resources Division from 2009 to 2010. Before working for the State of Montana, Tom served as an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Launch Officer in the United States Air Force. Tom earned a Bachelor’s degree in Government from the University of Virginia and holds a Master’s degree in Political Science from the University of Wyoming as well as a Master’s degree in Forestry from the University of Montana.

Jesse Short: Director of Idaho Lumber Production

Jesse has more than a decade of leadership experience in the industry. In 1999, Jesse started out as a general laborer at Moyie Springs. Committed to learning more about production, getting the training that enabled him to advance, and taking on new responsibilities allowed him to ultimately transition into management. He was Plant Manager for the Moyie Springs facility for four years and in 2011 moved south to be Plant Manager for Lewiston and then Regional Manager of the Lewiston and Grangeville mills in 2015. As of 2022, Jesse is now in the new company role of Director of Idaho Lumber Production. He holds an Associate’s Degree in residential construction from Delta College in Saginaw, Michigan.

Jodi Andersen: Human Resources Director

With two decades of experience in human resources and organizational development for Houston-area companies, Jodi Andersen and her family decided it was time to return to Idaho. Jodi joined IFG in May 2023 in the role of Human Resources Director. An Idaho native who grew up in the Lost River Valley, Andersen earned her B.A. and Master’s degrees at Boise State University. After working for the St. Luke’s Health System and Simplot Co., Andersen moved to Texas to work in Human Resources in healthcare and the oil and gas industry. Her shift into HR consulting roles afforded her the opportunity to travel abroad to advise on new hospital construction projects in Latin America and the Middle East, then later in South America, the Caribbean and Canada on oil and gas projects. Her goal and vision for her role at IFG is to provide best practices for human resource management and to foster a program essential to making IFG and employer of choice.